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UPDATE, So after 500 miles on the Dunlap Roadsmart III's, I can tell you that the day they where put on, I rode out of the place onto a main street with 55MPH speed limit. Before pulling out I was thinking, take a e-z...hope no one is going to come up behind me going like a bat outta hell. I look down and I am going 70MPH. Nice tires!

I would think that any new tires should feel better then the old. But I could tell right off that the bike will lay side to side much more and without a fight, holds a line very nice, and rides smooth. On straight roads, over cracks, tar snakes, wet dry, the bike is rock solid. Bends, turns, high speed or parking lot, dry or wet handles very nice.

I had a new shop do the install, and he said the tires went on fine and balanced well. He charged me $75 for the rear and $50 for the front, all I did was bring the bike and tires, he even did the NY state inspection for free!

So I will update after a few more miles but at 500, all is good so far. I would say for the price 139 rear and 129 front they are a good deal. ( I did pay less but that is the going online price) If they last longer then may be a great deal.

Old tires, where Metzeler Roadtec Z8 (2nd set) they had just about 5K miles on both of them. Rear has squared off, front I thought was OK but after putting the new rear on and looking at the new front (not installed) next to the old, you could see that the tire was squared off and cupped in spots, Shop guy was like: not worth trying to push it for more miles, so he replaced both for a matched set. If I am lucky maybe this new front will last longer and I can just replace the rear (times two) before getting a 2nd new front.

I'm running PR4's too. I'm on my second set and both have had cupped front tires after about 5,000 miles. Almost all of my mileage is done on mountain roads and a mechanic who looked at the tires told me that for someone riding in the twisties all of the time that this was normal wear. That seemed to be confirmed in the section of this article called "Cupping". (http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html) According to this article, cupping, while normal, is made worse by complex tread patterns and softer tire material. On my last set of PR 4's, the cupping was pretty noticeable at 5-6K, but seemed to get better. I got over 12,000 miles on that tire before replacement due to an upcoming tour, but still had between 2 and 3 K left on it. So, if I were to switch to Dunlop Roadsmart III's, which have a more simple tread pattern...one without the small sipes to channel water I wonder if that would make the cupping better.

"....So, if I were to switch to Dunlop Roadsmart III's, which have a more simple tread pattern...one without the small sipes to channel water I wonder if that would make the cupping better."....
The Dunlap Roadsmart III's have the small sipes in the front tire but not the back (i think). I have only 1000 miles now so too early to tell. I did ride in the rain for about 3 hours coming home from a long ride. The tires handle better in the rain then on the dry. The rain was so hard that I could not see at times and the bike was planted the hole way. After the rain pasted and the road where just wet, tires still hold the road great. Time will tell but so far every happy.

Thanks mjc... I only ride in the rain when caught out in it...like a mountain thunderstorm. So, wet weather performance isn't a big deal for me...I just slow down when it's wet. But, I don't do my own tire work and tires are a big expense and any extra mileage that I can get is valuable to me. I'm hoping that as your tires wear that you and ofdave will keep this thread updated. Thanks again...

I will keep riding til the Dunlops wear out! Things I (and ofdave) do for this forum....riding our hearts out..lol.

".........tires are a big expense and any extra mileage that I can get is valuable to me. .." I hear ya, I found out about the Dunlop Roadsmart III's because I was trying to get cheaper tires in the 1st place and did not want to spend that much money for the PR 4"s. Now that the rain has stooped I should have 5K miles in a few weeks and will keep you all posted.

HEY OFDAVE, How you doing on the Dunlop Roadsmart III's? any update info yet...

I've seen a Dunlop Roadsmart II in 4WheelOnline catalog while looking for a street tire available. I think it has better off-road capabilities.

I do not know about the II's. But I would say the III's are OK on gravel/dirt roads. I am not talking off road, but gravel/dirt roads that are not paved with blacktop.

Update on the Dunlap roadsmart III's. I was on a trip to the Catskills and rode on a lot of rides with tar snakes. I would say the front tire is not so good riding over them, it does slip. I did notice this in turns there the road was covered with tar snakes that you could not avoid. On roads with long tar snakes if you rode on them you would diffidently notice the slip of the front tire. On the rear, well not too bad but I did have it slip 2 or 3 times on long turns. It is something to keep in mind when buying tires, so I would say, check off, riding over tar snakes.

Tire wear is still not seen on front or rear tires, wet handling is good, dry good, just not good over tar snakes.

I agree, you can find the same info from Dunlap using there ROADSMART III's, saying they are better then the rest. In this test Michellin used the Roadsmart 2's.

When it is time for tires I try to get the latest info on each tire, most times whatever tire I end up using it is replaced by the better newer model when I need tires again. And whatever I had found not up to par on that tire, the tire company claims that the new and improved model now does better.....